At the Players Club, Gramercy Park. The club is in itself a marvel of glorious kitschy paintings of long-ago thespians, and acres of mahogany and potted plants. The event, entitled 5 x 15, is patterned after a British show in which five authors talk for fifteen minutes each. The program the night I was there began with Michael Riedel of the New York Post who talked about producer David Merrick, one of the five giants of Broadway in the 1960s and 1970s. Following were the poet Jeffrey McDaniel; Sarah Burns, who made the movie, “The Central Park Five”; Christopher Mason, with satirical songs; and biographer David Nasaw detailing the last days of Joseph P. Kennedy (“The Patriarch”). All was monitored by Amanda Foreman, author of “Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire.” She was marvelously and rollickingly British. The next show is April 8. Further information for these $25 programs can be found here. –jean vanderbilt